


The Milkman

by orphan_account



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Manipulation, Graphic descriptions of violence, Hospitals, Hurt Merlin, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mentions of Sexual assault and other injuries, Merthur endgame, Nurse Arthur, Violence, trigger warning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:28:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25309738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: "you shouldn't be here, he doesn't like visitors" Merlin said as he stared back at Arthur with blank eyes."Who doesn't?" Arthur asked."The Milkman"OrMerlin and Arthur were high school sweethearts, completely inseparable until one day everything changed.
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 20
Kudos: 134





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story will have mentions of Sexual Abuse, Violence and possibly selfharm.

Merlin and Arthur were high school sweethearts. The pair were completely inseparable, if one was walking through the halls, chances were the other wouldn't be too far behind. Many students and even teachers envied their relationship and some even went as far as to create rumours about their relationship but they were quickly shut down when they realised their bond was too strong, nothing could break it. People had their bets about how long their relationship would last, majority of the school thought they would stay 't together forever and they would have too, if it wasn't for the tragic disappearance of Merlin Emrys.

Merlin and Arthur had gotten into a big fight the night before over Arthur's father, Uther. Uther was known to be homophobic and didn't approve of his sons relationship with his boyfriend since they were just friends and was even known to sabotage their relationship in attempt to break them up so Arthur could marry a rich girl to keep up to the Pendragon Family name. The boys were close to graduating and Arthur was being forced to go into business school to please his father and when Merlin had said it was his life and hew as capable of making his own decisions, he snapped which ultimately led to one of the worst fights they had ever had. There was a lot of yelling and screaming involved and without thinking, Arthur had screamed and said if Merlin wasn't going to support his decisions, they shouldn't be together. As soon as he saw the pained expression that crossed Merlin's face, Arthur froze and frantically tried to apologise but it was too late, Merlin was already out the door.

The next day when Merlin didn't show up to school, Arthur just shrugged it off as him needing some time to cool off and went about his day as normal. Still having not heard from him since the night before when he got home from school, Arthur went over to his house to try and apologise for what he had said and show Merlin just how much he meant to him. When he knocked on the door and was met with his Mothers tear stained face, he knew something was wrong.

Hunith had let out a broken sob and wrapped her arms around Arthur while mumbling something that was muffled by his shirt. He stood in the doorway and wrapped his arms around her, letting her cry into his shoulder before he gently pulled away and looked into her broken eyes.

"What happened?" he asked as he urged her inside and sat down at the kitchen table.

"oh god Arthur, Merlin's gone" Hunith sobbed.

Arthur's heart started thumping in his chest and he felt a lump in his throat but he forced himself to stay calm, he didn't even know what had happened after all. He pulled his chair closer to hers and clasped his shaky hands over hers on the table, running his thumbs over her knuckles to try and calm her down.

"Hunith, what happened? Where's Merlin" Arthur asked after she had calmed down again.

"He didn't come home last night and he wasn't answering his phone. One of the neighbours said they saw a white van pull up next to him, one second he was there and the next he was gone"

Once 24 hours had passed, a missing Persons report was filed and news was quickly spread around the town. There were missing posters on every telegraph pole, on every bulletin board and on every news station. Arthur managed to be strong for Merlin's mother and his friends during the day but at night, he let his barriers down. No matter how much he knew different, he couldn't help but blame himself. If he hadn't of been such a prat he would have seen Merlin only had good intentions and there never would have been a fight which let him to storm out of his house in the middle of the night.

Months quickly passed and the Police worked tirelessly to track down the van and Merlin but their attempts were futile and Arthur's hope was starting to wear out. He tried to be strong for Merlin's family and friends and partly for himself but there was a little voice in the back of his head telling him he should just give up. He knew the statistics of kidnappings and the likelihood of Merlin still being alive after months were extremely slim, next to nothing.

Time passed quicker than expected and life went on. Arthur was absolutely miserable and struggled to get out of bed most mornings but he knew if he missed any more days off school his father would have words about it and he was already hating himself enough without his fathers disappointment added on top. Students passed him in the halls with sad smiles on their faces, a few went as far as to offer their support and offered to be there if he needed a friend but majority of them stayed away from the grieving teen. Whispers and theories could always be heard wherever he went but Arthur ignored them, he knew what they were saying weren't true. A few people said Merlin was only with Arthur because of his father and as soon as things got too serious, he left but Arthur knew better than to believe that.

Graduation day eventually came around and when the time came to choose the subject of his career, Merlin's goofy grin popped into his head a long with the words he had said the day before and he knew what he had to do. His father wasn't going to be happy with him, in fact he might even kick him out, but he realised life is too short to worry about what other people think and he chose the career that would make him happy; nursing. 

***

As Arthur started the new chapter of his life, the memories of Merlin stayed etched into his brain like a tattoo and he was never forgotten. There was always something around that reminded him of the love of his life and he soon realised he would never be able to love again, Merlin was the only one for him. A few months after graduating, Arthur became a resident at Camelot hospital and set about using his time and energy to help people instead of sitting in his flat remembering old times. 

It was almost a year and a half after Merlin's disappearance did his life change forever. The day started off as any normal day would,Arthur woke up before the sun rose and drove to the hospital to start his shift. He walked into the emergency department, coffee in hand, and walked towards the nurses station where he would wait for the Doctor who was given the task to train him. He leaned against the nurses station and sipped his coffee as he waited for the head nurse to arrive and give all the trainee's their jobs for the day. 

Arthur's attention was turned in the direction of two newer trainees who were talking rather loudly near the vending machines. He couldn't catch exactly what he was saying but from what he could hear, they were talking about a kidnapping. More specifically, Merlin.

"I still can't believe he's alive after all this time" One of the nurses said.

Arthur's breath hitched in his throat as he listened to their conversation and before he knew it, he was standing right near them.

"me either, he's in this exact hospital too" The other said.

His heart hammered in his chest as he stepped those few feet towards them until he was right in front of them. "You're talking about Merlin Emry's? He's here?"  
  
The nurses shared a curious look and nodded. "Yeah, he was brought in a few hours ago. The police tried talking to him but he freaked out, they had to give him a sedative to clam him down"  
  
"which room" Arthur said. When the Nurses gaped at him like fish, he clenched his jaw and asked again with a little more force than necessary.

"Room 102" 

Arthur instantly spun on his heels and sprinted towards the elevators, dropping the coffee in a nearby bin as he weaved in and out of the people in the corridors. He skidded to a stop outside the elevator and pressed the button, anxiously bouncing on his heels until the doors open and he flung himself inside. He clenched his fists to his sides as he waited for the elevator to reach the floor, his mind running wild with thoughts and memories. He had given up hope of Merlin coming back alive long ago and moved on with his life, only to find out he's been alive this whole time and he's under the same roof. The last memories he had of his boyfriend were them screaming at each other and the door slamming shut as Merlin left. Arthur didn't even know what he was supposed to say when he saw him again, what do you say to someone who has been missing for a year and a half? After all Merlin's been though, would he want to see him?  
  


The second the elevator doors opened, Arthur flew out and sprinted towards room 102. He got a few strange looks from passers by, it was uncommon to see a resident in such a hurry, but no one said anything and instead moved out of his way. His heart hammered roughly against his ribs as he neared the room but he urged himself to keep going, he needed to see him again. He stopped outside the door and reached for the handle, taking a deep breath before he opened the door.

When the door opened, his heart instantly dropped to his stomach. After all of these years, despite what the Police and everyone else said, here Merlin was, alive.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So a lot of you wanted more so i guess im gonna write more. I have absolutely no idea what i am going to write if i'm honest, i just picked up my laptop and wrote whatever came to mind.

Arthur's breath hitched in his throat when he saw Merlin's frail and battered body. He looked exactly the same as he did a year ago, though his hair was longer and he had faint shadows of stubble on his face. He felt warm tears slide down his cheeks, not because of the relief of seeing him alive again, but because of how injured he was. There was a bandage wrapped around his head with spotting of blood peeking through, there was a nasty cut just above his eyebrow that had a few stitches in it and there were purple bruises all around his eye. What really made Arthur's heart ache though was the amount of scars on his arms and chest, a long with the hand shaped bruise on his neck and the marks on his wrists that he assumed were from a rope or zip-ties. 

He let out a shaky breath and slowly walked over to the chair beside the bed, sitting down and looking at the sleeping form of the person who still holds his heart after all these years. Arthur wanted so badly to reach out and hold his hands, run his thumbs a long the seemingly thousands of scars intruding on the milky white skin but he wasn't sure if it was aloud anymore. They used to be attached at the hip every second of everyday but they weren't together anymore, they broke up when Merlin went missing. 

The urge to touch the love of his life after so long eventually overcame his insecurities and he slowly reached out, hesitating for a moment before he gently placed his hands over Merlin's small arm. The feeling of his warm skin made tingles shoot up his arms, just like it used to. He slowly flipped Merlin's arm until he got a better view of the scars and sucked in a breath before ghosting his fingers over each and every new and old scar that littered his arms. Some of the scars were white and faded, most likely older scars that have had plenty of time to heal, though the majority of the scars were still red and spotted with blood like they only happened mere hours before.

Touching his loves skin after so long made him want to break down into ugly, snot inducing sobs and bury himself in the warmth of Merlin's neck. When he first went missing, Arthur never gave himself time to grieve and instead occupied himself in making missing posters and making sure every damn person in the world knew the person who held his heart had been abducted. As the months went on with minimal leads that turned to dust, his hope had started to drain out of him until he forced himself to forget about Merlin entirely and move on with his life. Of course, he never actually forgot about the man he had been in love with since he was old enough to understand what love was, but he forced himself to think about him a whole lot less until he was merely a flash in his mind every once in a while. 

Now though, Merlin and he were breathing the same air, Arthur was touching his skin. It felt so overwhelming and he was so caught up in the relief that he didn't hear the voices outside the door, or the sound of the door opening until he heard a quiet sob and saw Hunith standing in the doorway with a shaky hand clasped over her mouth, her eyes frantically darting between Arthur and her son. She seemed frozen for a moment before she strode towards the bed and wrapped her arms around Merlin the best she could with the multiple IV's in his arm. 

Arthur felt like he was intruding on a special Mother-son moment so he quietly got up and walked out the door, sparing a brief glance at the two before shutting the door behind him and leaning against it. He took a deep breath and ran his hands through his hair, trying to stop himself from hyperventilating. The familiar noises of the hospital soon became background noise as the sound of his heart beating loudly in his ears seemed to block out any other sound. He didn't even notice a presence next to him until he felt a soft hand on his shoulder, making him look up to see one of the younger nurses standing in front of him clutching a folder with Merlin's name on it.

"Arthur, are you alright? what are you doing here?" She asked with concern etched onto her face.

Arthur shook his head to get the loud sound of his heart out of his ears and looked up at her, gaping like a fish before he finally took a deep breath and answered. "Merlin's alive"

She cocked her head to the side and looked at him like he had grown two heads and he realised she didn't know who Merlin was, none of them did. All they knew was he went missing in 12th grade, they had no idea Arthur was his boyfriend.

"I am-was, his boyfriend" he explained. The nurse's face softened into a knowing smile and she tightened her grip in his shoulder in a comforting way, though it still made him feel like he was suffocating. Seemingly noticing his discomfort, she dropped her arm to the side and gestured for him to walk back into the room where she followed closely behind.

When they entered the room again, Hunith had moved to the chair he previously sat on and gripped Merlin's hand in a grip so tight it was surprising it didn't cut off circulation. She looked back at him with tears in her eyes and she smiled brightly before shifting her gaze to the doctor, looking at her with pleading eyes, wanting to know what the hell happened to her boy.

"I'm Doctor Green, i am going to tell you what i can about Merlin's condition" she started and opened her folder, her bright green eyes darting back and forth before she looked up and cleared her throat. "When Merlin was brought in he was severely disoriented and wouldn't let anyone touch him, we had to give him a sedative to stop him from hurting himself or others. It appears he has been somewhat looked after where ever he was, he got regular meals and had access to water almost all day by the looks of his skin and hair"

Both Hunith and Arthur sighed a breath of relief at the thought of Merlin being somewhat looked after, they were grateful the son of a bitch who took him at least had the decency to keep him alive.

"There's something else" The nurse said and Arthur sucked in a breath. Based on her expression, whatever she had to say wasn't good news. "There appears to be evidence of sexual assault as well as mental manipulation. When he was brought in he kept saying 'the milkman wont be happy' and when we asked him who the milkman was, he froze and started thrashing around until we gave him the sedative."

Hunith let out a quiet sob and clutched her hand tighter over Merlin's who was still sleeping somewhat peacefully. Arthur clenched his fists to his sides to stop himself from running out of the hospital and finding the son of a bitch who hurt his love and beating him to a pulp. 

"When Merlin wakes up, he is going to need extensive therapy and possibly psychiatric help. He will most likely be confused and disoriented, he may not even remember who you are so if that happens, you will need to be patient and don't give up on him" She explained. From there on, Arthur made it his personal mission to protect Merlin and never leave his side again.  
  


***

Merlin woke up almost a day later.

Hunith went home a few hours after the Nurse left after Arthur and a few other Doctors and Nurses persuaded her to leave because it was clear being in the hospital wasn't good for her. Arthur on the other hand, refused to leave and instead stayed put on the chair beside the bed with Merlin's hand clutched tightly in his own.

Arthur was sitting forward in the chair with his forehead lying on the bed next to Merlin's knees when he felt a small squeeze on his hand. He shot his hand up and gasped when he was met with Merlin's soft eyelashes fluttering against his cheeks as his eyes slowly open. He holds his breath as he watches Merlin's eyes slowly dart around the room until they land on Arthur and the way he looks at him with terrified eyes makes his heart clench.

"Merlin" Arthur breaths out as he squeezes his hand. For a short moment, Merlin seems to relax into the pillow and smile back at him with tired eyes and Arthur sighs a breath of relief as he thinks this might be easier than he thought. Then, Merlin bolts upright in the bed and pries his arm away from Arthur's grip as he looks around the room, mumbling something incoherent under his breath. The heart monitor machine soon starts beeping wildly and minutes later, almost a dozen nurses rush into the room and push Arthur out of the way.

"Arthur, you shouldn't be here, he'll hurt you" Merlin looks up at Arthur with pleading eyes as he tries to thrash out of the Nurses grip. Arthur quickly shoves his way through the crowd of Nurses and stands beside the bed, putting himself in between Merlin and the Nurse who tries to give him a sedative. He slowly reaches out and puts his hands on Merlin's, rubbing soothing circles on the backs of his hands with his thumb and tries to assure him that everything will be okay.

Eventually, Merlin gives in and melts into Arthur's grip. Arthur sits on the side of the bed and pulls Merlin's body towards him, putting one hand over his head and pushing it towards his chest and wrapping the other around his waist. The Nurses step back and watch with wide eyes as Merlin's body trembles while Arthur whispers assurances into his ear and runs his fingers though his hair.

Soon after, Merlin calms down enough for the Nurses to leave the room, but he doesn't let go of Arthur's grip. They just sit there in silence, with the occasional sound of Merlin's small sniffles filling the room. Finally, Merlin pulls away and looks up at Arthur with petrified eyes and Arthur makes a bold move to press a soft kiss to his forehead. To his relief, the corner of Merlin's lips tugged up in the ghost of a smile and he rested his head on Arthur's shoulder.

Tomorrow, Arthur supposes the Police will come and ask Merlin questions, but for now, they are going to stay in each other's embrace.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know if you want more, this is kind of just a draft until i find out if i should continue.


End file.
